U.S. News & World Report Ranks Spelman College No. 1 HBCU for the 19th Consecutive Year
ATLANTA, Sept. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spelman College has been ranked No. 1 among the 2026 Best Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by U.S. News & World Report. This year, Spelman was also ranked No. 2 on the list of Top Performers in Social Mobility and remains among the top 40 Best National Liberal Arts institutions at No. 37.
“Being recognized as the nation’s top HBCU for the 19th consecutive year is a tremendous honor and a reflection of our unwavering commitment to academic excellence, leadership development and the empowerment of our students,” said Spelman Interim President Roz Brewer, C’84. “We are proud of our legacy of excellence and student success and stand ready to boldly embrace our future. As we continue to lead in liberal arts education and social mobility, we remain committed to preparing our students for the world as it is and as they will shape it.”
Social mobility is seen as a primary measure for assessing how well schools graduated economically disadvantaged students. For more than 100 years, HBCUs like Spelman have been pathways to upward mobility for underrepresented and low-income students. HBCUs generate $16.5 billion in direct economic impact on the national economy in the U.S., according to the UNCF.
Spelman was also ranked among the best in the country in other categories, including:
- No. 7 in Learning Communities
- No. 33 in Undergraduate Teaching Programs – National Liberal Arts Colleges (tied)
- No. 34 in Most Innovative Schools - National Liberal Arts Colleges (tied)
U.S. News publishes the Best Colleges rankings each year to provide prospective students and their families with the comparative merits of the undergraduate programs at America’s colleges and universities. The rankings offer detailed information of the institutions and data on factors such as graduation rates, graduate indebtedness and post-graduate earnings.
“U.S. News’ Best Colleges remains a reliable resource for prospective students and their families as they navigate the college selection process,” said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., managing editor for Education at U.S. News. “With over half of the ranking factors dedicated to student outcomes, the rankings and editorial content provide vital data, college advice and informed reporting to every student pursuing higher education.”
The 2026 edition of the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings evaluates more than 1,700 U.S. colleges and universities, using up to 17 factors to measure academic quality and graduate success. U.S. News publishes the Best Colleges rankings each year to provide prospective students and their families with the comparative merits of the undergraduate programs at America’s colleges and universities. The rankings offer detailed information of the institutions and data on factors such as outcome measures —including graduation rates, graduate indebtedness and post graduate earnings.
Spelman also received notable recognition in other publication rankings, including:
- Carnegie Classifications in Opportunity College & University – Higher Access, Higher Earnings and Special Focus – Art & Social Sciences
- Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader for Exceptional International Engagement
- LinkedIn ranked Spelman No. 3 among HBCU’s for alumni success
- The Princeton Review included Spelman on several lists, including among the Best Colleges in the South, Top 25 Most Active Student Government and Top 25 Most Engaged in Community Service
- Niche ranked Spelman No. 55 in its Best Liberal Arts Colleges in America List, No. 7 Best Women’s Colleges in America List, No. 5 Best Colleges in Georgia
Prospective students can see how Spelman compares to other institutions and how the rankings are calculated on USNews.com.
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About Spelman College
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,300 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by the U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 39 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 2 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 17th year among historically Black colleges and universities. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors and minors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, data science, refugee studies and gaming. Collaborations have been also established with MIT’s Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others.
Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, former Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, Harvard University professor and former Dean Evelynn Hammonds, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones.
To learn more, please visit spelman.edu and @spelmancollege on social media.
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Brijea Daniel Spelman College 4707337036 brijeadaniel@spelman.edu
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